Barleycorn - Subway To Sally

There were three farmers in the north,

as they were passing by they swore an oath so mighty

oh that Barleycorn should die

one of them said: drown him

and the other sad: hang him high

for whoever will stick to Barleycorn

a-begging he will die

they put poor Barley into a sack

an a cold an rainy day

and took him out to cornfields

and buried him in the clay

frost and snow began to melt

and dew began to fall

when Barleygrain put up his head

and he soon surprised them all

being in the summer season

and the harvest coming on it’s the time he stands up in the field with a beard like any man

the reaper then came with his sickle

and used me barbarously

he cut me in the middle so small

and he cut me above the knee

the next came was the binder

and he looked at me with a frown

for in the middle there was a thistle

which pulled his courage down

the farmer came with his pitch fork

and he pierced me to the heart

like a thief, a rogue or a highwayman

they tied me to the cart

the thresher came with his big flail

and soon he broke my bones

could grieve the heart of any man

to hear my sighs and moans

the next thing that they’ve done

to me they steeped me in the well

they left me there for a day

and night until I began to swell

and next thing that they’ve done

to me they dried me in a kiln

they used me ten times worse,

than that they ground me in the mill

they used me in the kichen,

they used me in the hall

oh they used me in the parlour

among the ladies all

the Barleygrain is a comical grain,

it makes men sigh and moan

for when they drink a glass or two

they forget their wives and home

the drunkard is a dirty man,

he used me worst of all

he drank me up in his dirty mouth

an he tumbled against the wall